The End of June

I confess I've gotten behind at blogging again. There's so much to do with three little boys and so little time to write anymore. But I do want to keep up with their memory books. Even if they don't read all the pages of them, they may enjoy the pictures someday or even their kids or grandchildren some day.

So, here are some random happenings from the end of June. Ryan came into our bedroom - where the boys like to "wrestle" on our king size bed at night and therefore throw off all the sheets and pillows, etc - wearing a hat from his brothers' hat rack in their bedroom. He also had his toothbrush (yes, pink, because we got a pink one from the dentist office and he doesn't seem to notice or care). He looked so silly with his hat on backwards and his pink toothbrush that I had to try to snap a few pictures, even though my camera battery was dying and the pictures are a little fuzzy. They still give you the idea...

I love his cute little "CHEESE!" And I love seeing Caleb in his PJs behind him, playing with the beloved Mario characters that Great Grandma Good gave Joshua for Christmas. If she only knew how much the kids LOVE these things! Some gifts are truly priceless.

Another favorite from the month of June (and maybe reaching back toward May) is sidewalk chalk drawings. One night when our babysitter was here, she traced the boys bodies on the driveway with chalk. Then they decorated them in. They LOVED it! They've asked to play with the chalk every time since when we've been out there. She's quite the artist, so she even made some drawings of the Mario characters for them. They were thrilled! I'm so glad they enjoy the babysitter when we can afford to go on a date. :) :) :)

I also have fun with the sidewalk chalk with them. It's great that they can play with it, and the rain washes it away!

Here's another little "CHEESE" for you:

Joshua loves to make funny faces when I ask him to smile for the camera.

It's nice when our neighbors come out and say hello as well, and we can catch up with one another. Our neighborhood is so friendly!

We also signed up at the library for the summer reading program. The two younger boys have to list the books that they've had read to them or they have read. But, Joshua has to read for eight hours and do some other projects to earn his tickets (which they are far cooler prizes for the older kids who are reading themselves). One of the things from his list was to attach a favorite family recipe and say why he enjoys it. Another was to attend a library event. Another was to draw a dinosaur and name its species. Yet another was to take a picture near any construction site (it could be with legos or sand or anything constructed). Here he is in front of a castle we built together using his wooden block set from Great Grandma Good.

We took a couple pictures and printed out the best one to attach to his forms. He's read five hours and done all the activities except having an older person read to him. All his grandparents have been away. Hopefully we'll fill that one soon. He only has until August to finish.

But, he had fun making his castle nonetheless in our play room.

On Saturday June 22, Shawn & Poppy went golfing in the afternoon. That evening, the kids & I met them back at Nonie & Poppy's house for dinner. Poppy grilled pork and Nonie had corn and watermelon (yum!) and we took ice cream for dessert. I didn't take too many pictures, but I got these of Caleb & Ryan sitting in the chair on their patio.

The boys had fun playing with Jordon and going down to his garage to play and running in their field. We also had a nice time visiting. We even had the special treat of drinking meadow tea! I wish I knew how to grow it and make it.

Other random activities included catching fireflies the following Saturday night in a jar with an aluminum foil lid, poked with holes from toothpicks to let them breathe. The kids LOVED catching these little lightning bugs, and I remembered doing it as a kid. It's a fun summer activity! They were careful not to squish them, and when we got more than five in a jar, we'd let them go and watch them fly away.

We went swimming as a family the night before in Universal Athletic Club's pool. We love that gym! It has been a huge blessing to our family! Even little Ryan came in with us, and we put life vests on all the boys. Ryan found some rubber ducks that he let swim together with us. I held onto him and let him kick his legs and splash his hands while Daddy took the older two boys with him. They all did great and had a fun time.

We've taken walks around the neighborhood, played "basket-a-ball" (as Ryan calls it!). He LOVES basketball and always puts an extra syllable in there. He can't reach the net, but it doesn't stop him from trying. We keep the net at our house lower for the older boys to try and score. They have fun playing! They also love to ride their scooters and bikes around. We've also read tons of books this summer, and I try to pick books for the season on things like gardening and the beach, vacations and sunshine. We've loved all the new stories and that we can borrow books and return them for new ones.

We've played at the playground behind our house, too, and just enjoyed the ability to be outside and not need a thousand layers. We love summer!

How is it that June has ended and July has come already?